Mandaue City Mayor Glenn Bercede and former Mayor Jonas Cortes. | Photo from the FB page of Glenn Bercede
MANDAUE CITY, Cebu – An ally of dismissed Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes said that he has not lost hope that the former mayor will still be able to seek election in May.
Mayor Glenn Bercede said he remains optimistic that the Supreme Court (SC) will issue a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) that will prevent the Commission on Elections (Comelec) from excluding Cortes in the official list of candidates.
“As Team Mandaue member, confident gyud [ko] nga makadagan [si Mayor Cortes]. Supreme Court is the highest on the land, dili pa to final siguro [ang cancellation sa iyang COC] sa Comelec pero naa pay higher court nga madaganan nato. Hopeful ta,” Bercede said in an interview on Monday, January 6.
READ: Dismissed Mandaue City Mayor Cortes files petition before SC against Comelec
(As a Team Mandaue member, I am confident that Mayor Cortes will still be able to seek election. The Supreme Court is the highest on the land and I believe that the decision of the Comelec to cancel his COC is not yet final because we still have a higher court that we can go to. I remain hopeful.)
‘Let’s be calm’
While they ‘patiently wait’ for the SC’s decision, Bercede is urging their supporters to remain calm and united.
“Sa amoang mga supporters, let’s be calm. Hulat lang ta. Dili lang ta sige og kuan (tuo) sa social media kay daghan og trolls dinha,” said Bercede.
READ: Mandauehanons rally behind embattled Mayor Jonas Cortes
(To our supporters, let’s be calm. Let us wait. Let us not immediately believe what is posted on social media because there are a lot of trolls there.)
As for Team Mandaue members, they continue to attend to their daily activities.
On Sunday, Cortes and his allies attended a New Year’s party for their supporters that was organized by the group’s congressional candidate, Atty. Regal Oliva.
READ: Comelec cancels Jonas Cortes’ candidacy for false representation
As for Cortes, his last update on his social media page was posted on January 3, where he can be seen giving out Christmas raffle giveaways to his supporters.
Final and executory
On January 3, the Comelec En Banc issued a Certificate of Finality, and Entry of Judgment to officially exclude Cortes from the mayoral race citing the 1993 Comelec Rules of Procedures.
According to said rules, decisions or resolutions made by the Comelec En Banc shall become final and executory after five days from its promulgation, unless restrained by SC.
The resolution denies Cortes’ motion for reconsideration that was promulgated and served last December 27.
Despite the Comelec ruling, Cortes remains hopeful that he will still get ‘justice’ from SC.
On January 2, he filed a petition for certiorari before SC, seeking an injunction, a status quo ante order, and the nullification of the cancellation proceedings.
In his petition, Cortes asserts that the Comelec’s decision infringes on his constitutional right to run for public office and disenfranchises voters in Mandaue City who wish to support him.
Cortes’ disqualification stemmed from a petition filed by Atty. Ervin Estandarte on Oct. 25, claiming that the former mayor failed to disclose his dismissal from service by the Ombudsman, which constitutes material misrepresentation in his COC.